Brioche Feuilletée (Flaky Brioche)

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Ingredients:
400g Bread Flour
1 cup and a splash Whole Milk (about 225mil)
4 Egg Yolks
1 pinch Salt
2 teaspoon White Sugar
2 teaspoon Instant Yeast
— Layering —
2 Tablespoon Salted Butter, softened
3 Tablespoon Light Brown Sugar
— Topping —
1 teaspoon White Sugar

Instructions:

1) Mix all ingredients (except for Layering and Topping ingredients) and knead into a soft dough. It will be very very sticky at first, over time it will become smooth and elastic (it took about 20 minutes for me). Form a ball, place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap with a few holes in it, and let rise for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until double in size.

2) Dust a flat surface with flour, cut the dough in half, and mould each half into about a 6×6 square, let rest about 10 minutes

3) Roll out to 1/10″ in a long rectangle shape then let rest for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes roll until about 1/16″ keeping that long rectangle.

4) Brush with the soft butter in a very thin layer and sprinkle with the Brown Sugar.

5) Using a pizza cutter cut into 4 long strips and lay on top of each other with Butter side up to make four layers. Roll this up tightly and place end piece (where the end of the dough meets the roll) down on a dish. Repeat for second ball of dough. Place in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

6) Cut in half (the sharper the knife the better) and place cut side up on a tray with about 4-5″ between them. Put in fridge for 45 minutes.

7) Pre-heat oven to 370 degrees about 20 minutes into step 6

8) On a greased baking sheet (I used Pam and did step 6 on a greased baking sheet so I wouldn’t have to transfer the dough and maybe squish it) transfer the dough here if not already there about 4″ apart.

9) Sprinkle lightly with White Sugar and bake for 30-40 minutes or until dark golden Brown. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack til cool.

Future Attempts: My roommate pointed out that these would taste great with some almond paste in the layering and I was toying with whisking some jam into the butter for the layer. If these ideas turn out well I’ll make sure to post an update!

Marionberry Jam Shortbread Cookies

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Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups Butter, softened
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 cup White Sugar
4 cups All-Purpose Flour1/2 your preferred Jam ( I used Marionberry Jam)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1) Cream butter and sugar until fluffy in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add in vanilla, flour and mix well. It will look crumbly and dry, this is fine.

2) Compress the dough with a spoon and/or hands then form into flat roundish shapes, or if you have a cookie press fill it up with the dough and press out your cookies. This is best if you care about the shape.

3) Bake for 10 – 12 minutes, they will still be white/pale. If you want more color after you fill them you can pop them under the Broiler on High for about 1 minute watching closely.

4) When you take them out use a small spoon to press a shallow indent into the cookie.

5) Whisk you chosen jam until smoother then spoon a small amount into the indent while the cookie is still warm. Let cool and enjoy

Pumpkin Sour Cream Cake with Mock Butterscotch and Buttercream

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Ingredients:
Cake
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons butter extract (optional)
4 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups All-purpose flour
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon water
2 8″ or 9″ cake pans

Buttercream
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
Dash Heavy Cream (or water if you want to, it’s what I used so it’s lighter)
Pinch Nutmeg
Pinch Salt
(This is a plainer Buttercream so there is no Vanilla Extract but if you want about 5 drops is more traditional)

Butterscotch Pudding (Kinda)
1 cup White Sugar
2 cups Water
Pinch Salt
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
1 teaspoon Molasses
1 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 tablespoons Corn Starch and equal water (for a slurry)

Topping
Handful Toasted Almonds

Instructions:

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees, rack center oven

Cake
1) Lightly grease two 8″ or 9″ round cake pans
2)Beat together the butter, sugar, baking powder, salt, and vanilla, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed, until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes
3) Add Pumpkin Puree and beat 20 seconds
4) Add the eggs two at a time until fully combined about 2 minutes between each addition
5) Stir in 1 1/2 cups flour, then all of the Sour Cream, followed by 1 1/2 cups flour, scraping the bowl after each addition. Mix just barely combined 6) Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans, spreading it level as best you can
7) Bake the cake until the edges are golden brown — 30 – 40 minutes The center of the cake should feel firmish when gently pressed, and a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
8) Remove the cake from the oven. Allow it to cool until you can pick up the pan without obvious heat in the pan, then quickly flip the pan over onto a cooling rack. The cake should loosen and fall in on swift movement. Confidence is key here, if you hesitate the cake will fall or break.
9) Once room temperature, tightly wrap the cakes in plastic wrap and place in freezer for at least 2 hours.
10) Once firm remove from freezer and unwrap one cake at a time.
11) On each cake using a sharp serrated knife cut off the very top layer (it will be very thin except for the edges which will be thicker, cut until the cake is mostly yellow). For the edges of the second cake place the first cake on top and use it as a template to cut the second cake to be the same size.
12) If the other components are not ready to go then re-wrap the cakes and place in the refrigerator.

Buttercream
1) Put Sugar, Salt, Nutmeg, and Butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and whisk until fluffy
2) Dash in Water/Heavy Cream and continue to beat about 1 minute until creamy

Butterscotch Pudding (Kinda)
1) Combine Sugar and Water, bring to a boil for about 5 minutes. It should look slightly thick ( think of half-set Jello vicious) but not enough to coat a spoon. Splash ( a 2-second splash from the faucet) with some warm water and swirl around in the pot.
2) Add everything but the Slurry (cornstarch and water) and Greek Yogurt and whisk.
3) Whisk in the Slurry til combined then bring to a boil for about 30-60 seconds over medium-high heat
4) Thoroughly whisk in the Greek Yogurt until smooth
5) Set aside and let cool

 

Tips:

If you don’t wrap the cake tightly before putting the freezer you run the risk of the porous sponge sucking up any foul odors and flavors that are in your freezer. Tightly wrapping it ensures that while it cools it doesn’t take on any unfortunate flavors.